Two-centered and four-centered arches share something in common—a pointed peak. It’s not surprising that both are commonly found in Gothic and Gothic-inspired architecture. But a three-centered arch—sometimes called a ‘basket-handle arch’ or ‘Anse de panier’—closely resembles an ellipse, which puts it in a field of its own.
I’ve toured a lot of historic homes and seen some extraordinary arches—door jambs, windows, passageways. In reading about historic architecture, especially Gothic and colonial styles, I’ve come across some beautiful arch work. But those once-common elements are not often incorporated into millwork today. Sure, sometimes the carpentry techniques are more difficult, and too costly, but… Read the full article
How high should we install chair rail? Ask most carpenters and they’ll either say 36 in., 32 in. or they’ll measure the back of a chair and tell you to lay it out so the chair won’t scar the wall. Well, I’m sorry to say, that unless your ceilings are 16-ft. tall, 36 in. is… Read the full article
The Art of Etching Glass with Sand What’s a story on etched glass doing in a carpentry magazine? Good question. I don’t know the exact answer. All I know is that every aspect of construction interests me, and when I met Donna Burrows and visited her studio, I knew that other readers would be interested… Read the full article
This is a follow-up to the Curtis Mitertite article by Dave Parker, and an attempt to answer the question about the feasibility of making this joint in the field. I previously posted some comments to Dave’s article and uploaded some photos of a prototype jig that I made with the resulting joint. This is a… Read the full article
Have you ever said to yourself, “How’d they do that??” I have. Lots of times. And when I found a mysterious casing on a recent job, I said it again. This time, though, it took a little longer than a day or two to figure out how they did it. I was in the midst… Read the full article
– It works the way a carpenter thinks. If you are tired of working out trim details on a scrap of wood or making shop drawings with graph paper and a ruler, SketchUp is your answer. Unlike most computer-aided design programs you may have tried, SketchUp is very intuitive and works the way a carpenter… Read the full article
Design before you build I worked in finish carpentry and millwork for quite a while before I learned that you have to design things before you can build them: the less confidence I had about each step of a job, the more important it was to plan right to the end, before cutting one piece… Read the full article
If I were to say: “Hi are how you? Brent I’m Hull.” You might wonder what I drank for breakfast. I mean, you’d recognize the words, they’d sound familiar, but the way I used them wouldn’t make any sense. But if I said: “Hi, how are you? I’m Brent Hull,” you’d respond without a hitch,… Read the full article